The Verb "Withhold" in English

Conjugation of "To Withhold"

The verb "withhold" is an irregular verb. (This means that "withhold" does not form its simple past tense or its past participle by adding "-ed" or "-d" to the base form.)

The Five Forms of "To Withhold"

Form	withhold	Alternative Name
Base Form	withhold	Infinitive Form
The -S Form	withholds	Third Person Singular Form
Past Form	withheld	Simple Past Tense
The -ING Form	withholding	Present Participle Form
The Past Participle Form	withheld	[no alternative name]

"To Withhold" in All the Tenses

The tables below show how "withhold" conjugates in the past, present, and future tenses.

Past Tenses

Person	Simple Past	Past Progressive Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	withheld withheld withheld withheld withheld withheld The simple past tense is for a completed activity that happened in the past.	was withholding were withholding was withholding were withholding were withholding were withholding The past progressive tense is for an ongoing activity in the past. Often, it is used to set the scene for another action.	had withheld had withheld had withheld had withheld had withheld had withheld The past perfect tense is for emphasizing that an action was completed before another took place.	had been withholding had been withholding had been withholding had been withholding had been withholding had been withholding The past perfect progressive tense is for showing that an ongoing action in the past has ended.

Present Tenses

Person	Simple Present	Present Progressive Tense	Present Perfect Tense	Present Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	withhold withhold withholds withhold withhold withhold The simple present tense is mostly for a fact or a habit.	am withholding are withholding is withholding are withholding are withholding are withholding The present progressive tense is for an ongoing action in the present.	have withheld have withheld has withheld have withheld have withheld have withheld The present perfect tense is for an action that began in the past. (Often, the action continues into the present.)	have been withholding have been withholding has been withholding have been withholding have been withholding have been withholding The present perfect progressive tense is for a continuous activity that began in the past and continues into the present (or finished very recently).

Future Tenses

Person	Simple Future	Future Progressive Tense	Future Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Progressive Tense
I you he/she/it we you they	will withhold will withhold will withhold will withhold will withhold will withhold The simple future tense is for an action that will occur in the future.	will be withholding will be withholding will be withholding will be withholding will be withholding will be withholding The future progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will occur in the future.	will have withheld will have withheld will have withheld will have withheld will have withheld will have withheld The future perfect tense is for an action that will have been completed at some point in the future.	will have been withholding will have been withholding will have been withholding will have been withholding will have been withholding will have been withholding The future perfect progressive tense is for an ongoing action that will be completed at some specified time in the future.

Most Common Irregular Verbs

The two most common irregular verbs in English are "be" and "have." These pages give more details about these two verbs:

Here are the next 10 most common irregular verbs in English:

see, say, go, come, know, get, give, become, find, and think

This page was written by Craig Shrives.